The present invention relates generally to cotton harvesters and more particularly to a monitor for detecting picker drum overloads on a picker unit.
In conventional cotton pickers, for example of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,133,166 issued to A. L. Hubbard on Jan. 9, 1979, there is provided a vertical picker drum supporting a plurality of radially extending cotton picking spindles. A driving gear mounted on a vertical shaft extending upwardly from the drum meshes with the driven portion of a slip clutch. The drum is rotated as the slip clutch is driven by a conventional power source. The drum and its associated drive gears are protected against damage by the slip clutch which removes drive from the driving gear when an overload occurs, for example when a rock or other obstacle becomes lodged against the drum.
The operator of the cotton harvester may not, however, immediately hear the sound generated as the cams and lobes on the drive and driven portions, respectively, slip past each other. This is especially true because sound-proof cabs tend to isolate the operator from the noise of the picker unit. Inability to immediately recognize an overload condition can result in damage to the drum drive as well as lost cotton and reduced productivity.